Photo By Cpl. J Nava | A recruit from Hotel Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, rushes out of the the...... read more read more
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MCRD PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- The recruits of Hotel Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, fought through the effects of CS gas, June 7, at the gas chamber in order to get one step closer to earning the title of Marine.
The training is designed to familiarize the recruits with their M40 Field Protective Masks and to give them a chance to employ the mask in a controlled environment, said Staff Sgt. Anthony Epperson, lead instructor for the June 7 gas chamber exercise.
The recruits filed into the gas chamber by platoon after a period of instruction on how to use their masks. Many of them had a hint of what lay in store for them when they saw the first group of recruits run out of the chamber with mucus- and tear-covered faces.
“[I] was very nervous before [I] stepped in,” said Rct. Aquino Spann, guide for Platoon 2056, Hotel Company. “The instructors had told [us] stories about the chamber to intimidate us, but [I] believe the platoon made it through pretty successfully.”
As soon as they stepped in the chamber, the recruits formed a school circle around the lead instructor. He shouted his muffled safety brief and initial commands from under the cover of the black, bug-eyed mask.
The recruits conducted several exercises such as side-straddle hops, running in place and shaking their heads vigorously from left to right to prove the reliability of the seal between the mask and the recruits’ faces.
The most dreaded command of all came next. The instructor ordered the recruits to poke two fingers through each side of their mask, touching the inside of the glass. They were to hold them there until the instructor had gone around and checked each recruit’s mask and instructed them to remove their fingers simultaneously.
Just beforehand the recruits were instructed to shut their eyes, take a deep breath and hold it as long as they could.
“As soon as the gas entered [my] mask and [I] breathed it in, it felt like needles were poking into [my] lungs,” said Rct. Yusuf Coppin, guide for Platoon 2057, Hotel Company. “[My] skin still feels like it’s burning from the gas,” he said several minutes after the training event.
As soon as they received the command to remove their fingers, the room filled with the buzz of heavy coughing and the gurgling noise, akin to flatulence, that comes with clearing gas out of the mask. It proved to the instructors that the recruits had successfully learned to clear the masks.
When the training was complete the instructors opened the exit door, letting in the light from outside, which was probably the most welcomed sight the recruits had seen all day.
“[I] believe the training will help [us] to be able to keep [our] minds calm during moments of stress,” Coppin said. “[I’m] proud that all of [us] made it through together.”
The recruits filed out, and walked in a circle in a nearby patch of grass. When they received the command to shed their M40 Field Protective Masks, snot and spit clung from their faces. A few tried to wipe their faces clean with contaminated hands but soon realized what a mistake that was. The recruits then walked over to buckets filled with cleaning agents to decontaminate their masks.
“All the training here is to familiarize the recruits with their gear,” Epperson said.
“Whether it’s rappelling, gas chamber or the range, the training is designed to help the recruits build trust in their gear.”
They put away their masks and formed up by platoon, then marched away their next portion of training – a step closer to leaving the island for good, their minds forever clinging to the far away notion of graduation.
| Date Taken: | 07.28.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2011 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 74463 |
| Location: | PARRIS ISLAND, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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